Witness expertise in Ruto Land purchase case queried

The defence on Wednesday discredited a document examiner whose report showed that forged signatures were used to transfer a post-election victim’s land to deputy President-elect William Ruto. Mr Martin Papa’s expertise came under scrutiny from lawyers. He had been hired by Ms Dorothy Yator who has claimed that her signature were forged and used in the transaction. Mr Ruto’s lawyer, Mr Katwa Kigen, who was cross-examining the witness, pressed him to prove that he had the academic qualifications. The witness produced a copy of a certificate of attendance of a forensic course by the Kenya Police. He also told the court that he had worked at the CID as a forensic document expert from 1997 to 2004.